{"nrhp_refnum":"78001844","name":"Chemung Canal Bank Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"415 E. Water St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elmira","county":"Chemung County","state":"NY","lat":42.08842156900005,"lon":-76.80001656099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-06-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick commercial building at 415 East Water Street in downtown Elmira, Chemung County, New York, built in 1833 as a bank headquarters and enlarged several times through 1903.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest existing commercial structure in Elmira, built for the Chemung Canal Bank after the canal opened in 1832. It was associated with prominent citizens such as John Arnot Sr. and Jr., Governor David Hill and lawyer John Stanchfield. Its design blends classical and Italianate details, with additions carefully integrated into a coherent whole.","narrative":"Built in 1833 on East Water Street in downtown Elmira, this brick building was designed as a banking house for the newly chartered Chemung Canal Bank, with offices on the first floor and the cashier's residence above. It is believed to be the oldest surviving commercial structure in the city. Originally two stories, it gained a rear addition in the mid-nineteenth century, a third floor with arched windows and a brick cornice in 1868, an east wing with vault in the 1880s, and a projecting Ionic entrance in 1903. Inside, terrazzo floors, pressed-tin ceilings, marble baseboards, skylights, mahogany woodwork and three vaults remain. The bank occupied the building for eighty-six years, and tenants included John Arnot Sr., John Arnot Jr., Governor David Hill and trial lawyer John Stanchfield. The Arnots used it as an upstate Democratic Party headquarters before the Civil War. Its listing rests on both its associations and its balanced classical and Italianate design.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Blend of classical and Italianate details","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied and unused at nomination; the Chemung County Historical Society planned to rehabilitate it for collections, offices and exhibits. Rear additions and the gas building were somewhat deteriorated.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:38.997204-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/78001844.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001844/f2f3f14ea7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001844/f2f3f14ea7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chemung_Canal_Bank_Building_Oct_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chemung_Canal_Bank_Building_Oct_09.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316794","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemung_Canal_Bank_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5090675"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/chemung-county/chemung-canal-bank-building-78001844/"}